July 2004

BLDGBLOG readers, now is your chance to shine: using 100 words or less, tell us what kind of micronation you would found – and where. Would it be an agricultural utopia, ruled by lottery, prone to war? Or a tropical island paradise, funded by bonds in coconut futures? Perhaps a polysexual fantasy on a hovercraft, roaring nonstop across the oceans of the world? Or a quiet Arctic refuge? A little mountain town somewhere, full of friends and wine? Winners – decided by yours truly, with some friendly advice from my colleagues, all of us reacting instinctively, without strict criteria – will receive a free copy of The Lonely Planet Guide to Micronations, by John Ryan, George Dunford, and Simon Sellars. And, yes, you can draw, you can paint, you can do whatever you might need to do visually, but submit it all to me by email no later than Friday, December 15th, 2006. And put "Invent-a-Micronation Contest" in the subject line, or your little baby might get junk-mailed. If you need quick tips, examples, criteria, etc., see BLDGBLOG's brand new interview with Simon Sellars, one of the Lonely Planet book's co-authors – or take a look at Wikipedia's entry on micronations. And, why not: you can submit more than once. In fact, please do.

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I never thought it would come to this. An opportunity to explain a few things about the National Sex Garden. That state of desire which exists somewhere between the Summer House, the National Botanic Garden Conservatory, Kansas, and the Astral Plane. A hundred words hardly begins to describe the extent and character of the Garden. So I must resort to conjecture: it is the space of sexualities, the garden of corporeal delights. It's where you are when you're getting off. As expected, it is also politically autonomous, central to political life and the focus of much fu/politicking. C'mon in!

One Nation Under a Groove craves invisibility, therefore we will dig a trench and fill it with ourselves. This trench, 20 feet high on either side, roughly 50 feet long, with a maximum width of 15 feet, will form both sleeping quarters and entertainment complex, scenic wonder and quarters for parliament. The bottom will be filled with the rush of water both in and out, where rugged coy will battle the current and we will compete in procuring ourselves dinner with bare hands and teeth. Upon waking from our sleep bunks dug into the cliff face, we twenty individuals, ten of the East and ten of the West, will conduct the affairs of state by sitting upright on said shelves, making proposals, and voting via the skipping of rocks. Things shall be funded by extracting a tax from any foreigners so bold as to step to the lip of our nation below the horizon. Those who can't pay are pulled to the water, where the rocking-skipping takes on a shocking new vigor.

I would like very seriously to start a new nation, one that sews the seeds to show the world that one can live at one with nature, leaving footprints that bloom rather than stamping out life with each tromp. The first idea I have is to reclaim large ships that are on their way to scrap yards (SEE GHOST SHIPS). The real point is to really do it, and to find a way to make this nation with ideals that aren't enforced. If you have to have a forced communication it will die. Maybe if we could build a real way of living, one that started working without enforcement, maybe it could change the world. I like Paul S.'s idea of invisibility, as, the best defense is to not be in the enemies sites. So, I would propose a system of hiding, perhaps a sort of not-ness.... If a large raft of trash can float around the ocean, then a hidden city or two can exist?

My imagined micronation is called Aquina and takes the form of an equatorial marine settlement on a pneumatically stabilized platform composed of nanofiber reinforced geopolyer cement employing a 'tectonic' design that mimics natural landscape with a flowing terraced structure akin to the mountain farms of Indonesia. Its top surface relegated to parkland, the inside edges of each terrace provide all habitable space while its deep interior hosts industry, hydroponics, OTECs, and a combined PRT and PPT system. Founded on a Community Investment Corporation, Aquina would cultivate a post-industrial culture and exploit its sovereignty to establish a digital global barter scrit.

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BLDGBLOG ("building blog") is written by Geoff Manaugh. The opinions expressed here are my own; they do not reflect the views of my friends, editors, employers, publishers, or colleagues, with whom this blog is not affiliated. More.